The Weekly Watch

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 6:00am

What the Folk?

I'm off at a Georgia State Park with some music buddies. Our focus in this gathering is singing. If you know lots of songs, you have to play and sing them regularly in order to keep them resident in your mind. However, it is easy to lose some over the years, so our goal is to reclaim those songs and reinforce the songs we do know. People like to classify music based on genre. I've been called an old time, bluegrass, country, and folk musician. I prefer the folk label which is so broad as to include a variety of music.

The Sound that Goes Around Our Song...
Here's a couple of episodes of a BBC series. They're about an hour each...

Lost Highway: the story of Country Music (Episode I - Down from the Mountain)

and one more episode...

Lost Highway The History of American Country ● Beyond Nashville

...and now a series of about 15 min clips focused on folk music specifically.

The first of a number of extracts from a 3 hour documentary on American folk music. This episode picks up the story with John Lomax and his "discovery" of Huddie Ledbetter. It then features Woody Guthrie and the seeds of the protest movement, before looking at Pete Seeger and the politics of the left.

The Story Of American Folk Music 3

When Hitler invaded Russia, the Almanacs changed their opposition to the war. However, they were not forgiven and their popularity declined. Alan Lomax recorded work songs, whilst Josh White found more popularity in cafe society. Pete Seeger comes out of the cold with the Weavers who became chart material.

The Story Of American Folk Music 4

After the death of Leadbelly, the architects of the American folk music movement come under scrutiny of the House of Un-American Activities. Alan Lomax leaves the country and the Weavers quit. Josh White is banned from television for 13 years. Woody Guthrie dies in hospital.

The Story Of American Folk Music 5

Whilst the far left consortium of folk singers are marginalised, Folk goes pop. Groups like the Kingston Trio and the Tarriers enjoy world wide chart success. As the poliitical climate starts to change, in America Alan Lomax returns and artists such as Pete Seeger find renewed energy. Joan Baez becomes Folk's biggest star.The Folk Revival begins!

The Story Of American Folk Music 6

I am afraid that episode 6 "The Story Of American Folk Music" is severely edited, in order to avoid the wrath of the Bob Dylan organisation. However, there is plenty of good stuff here. Starting with the changing nature of the Newport Folk Festival, as blues singers such as Fred McDowell and Mississippi John Hurt are re-discovered. Leading on to folk rock with the Mamas & Papas, the Byrds and Barry McGuire.

So the 60's were my formative years and the music infused itself in me. Living in the South there was a long musical legacy coming over from the old country...
The Scots-Irish musical legacy in the USA

Following the trail of the Great Wagon Road, Mark Wilson traces the road from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to discover the influence of the Ulster-Scots on the music of North America.

It wasn't just European influence, but the African hybridization which created Southern music from the blues to hillbilly folk. The banjo came from Africa and with the fiddle became the heart of string bands across the region.

There are many online resources...
https://www.folkstreams.net/films showcases several aspects of folk life.
and I use https://mudcat.org/ to look up songs and their origins.

But what about some NEWS?
I'll drop just a couple of clips as I left Wednesday.
The first is about 1.5 hours...
NATO Defending Freedom Or Causing WAR | The Duran | Cyrus Janssen & Reporterfy

Join us for a riveting live stream as we delve into the heart of global affairs and shed light on the upcoming NATO meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania. Our esteemed guests, The Duran's Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris, alongside Cyrus Janssen and Reporterfy Media, will guide us through the intricate web of international relations.

One more shorter clip (25 min). Sometimes the investor class is pretty savvy about world affairs. I found this fellow's views spot on...
The second wave of inflation is coming, risk of 'deep recession' is very high – Simon Hunt

Simon Hunt, Founder of Simon Hunt Strategic Services, says the U.S. and other G7 countries could see a recession as early as this fall, completely reversing the synchronized global monetary policy tightening. Simon also sees an escalation of the war in Ukraine and a second wave of inflation hitting the U.S. in 2024, warning investors "to prepare for the worst."
Economic through the lens of the proxy war in Ukraine.

I should be home later today and will check in then. Don't forget George Galloway's MOATS show is live today. Till then the tread is open...

Tags:

weekly watch

Open Thread

folk music

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Submitted by Blue Republic on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 8:52am

We were warned - another in the series

The dangers of a society reliant on science and technology populated by people who know little or nothing of it and are incurious about finding out.

Last interview with Carl Sagan

In the last interview of his life, astronomer Carl Sagan warned of the dangers that come when citizens cannot ask skeptical scientific questions of those in authority.

He warned of “follow the science and trust the experts”.pic.twitter.com/Xl96fpeakb

— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) July 15, 2023

"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers."
- Thomas Pynchon

- Or get you not to care enough to question at all...

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 8:30am

Follow the science...

@Blue Republic

has been bastardized to mean, "don't question what I say is science"...the very opposite of how science actually works.

Sagan was insightful on many counts.

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.

Carl Sagan

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Blue Republic on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 9:40am

Those Scots-Irish...

Have a few of those in the ancestral woodpile.

Video is somewhat correct about Scots-Irish migration but has some misses, too.

This - and the other main migration waves from Britain thoroughly covered in David Hackett-Fischer's 'Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America'.

Each of the four waves described had a distinct regional/cultural/religious origin and settled (mainly) in different regions in America. The S-I's were the last of these, following the Puritans (East Anglia to New England), the 'Cavaliers' (Royalists from Southern England and their domestics and indentured to Virginia, Maryland, coastal Carolinas), Quakers (N. Midlands to Pennsylvania , New Jersey).

S-I's were originally from the border regions of England/Scotland and had, until the unification of those kingdoms in the early 1700's, not been effectively under control of either and largely in a state of endemic conflict for something like 500 years when the British crown finally came in to impose ORDER on people unused to and disinclined to it.

The video linked to implies a stronger relationship than actually existed between the lowland borderers and highland Scots. They were, in fact, traditional enemies (this is a central theme of Robert Lous Stevenson's novel 'Kidnaped') - often fighting each other when they weren't too busy feuding and fighting among themselves.

Brits did need underlings to impose their rule on the Irish, and recruited borderers for the task, but the borderers were not Church of England and relegated to an inferior status, there were restriction on their right to hold government positions, public office, vote, etc. and conditions in Ireland overall were worsening - this while opportunities to emigrate were opening up and a huge migration ensued - Ulster Protestants are the descendants of those who didn't leave.

While the Quakers didn't actively turn them away, there were serious differences in terms of culture and values and the Quakers did what they could to encourage the S-I's to keep going on into the frontier - mainly, as the video follows, the Wagon Road, basically the Warrior Path of the Indians, south along the Appalachians. S-I's were generally happy to oblige and get well away from the reach of the Crown.

The rest, as they say...

Submitted by QMS on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 10:58am

good look at the Irish / Scots migration

@Blue Republic

from what I learned from my grandpaapy
there were 5 brothers immigrating from Ireland
probably his grandfathers generation (early 1800's)
that came to the US aboard ships to find wives
in the TN / VA area. The traditions of fiddler music
passed down, as my grandfather could pull a pretty
decent hoe down. Grand momma (on fathers side)
immigrated from Scotland around WW 1 to become
a nurse on the Hudson in NY, where she met g.pappa.
Scotch/Irish may have been cultural enemies, but they
made it work somehow.

It's like my wife's parents - direct immigrants from
Germany and Ukraine. Not known for loving relations
but somehow made it work in this US melting pot.

Thanks for posting. Most interesting.

Have a few of those in the ancestral woodpile. Video is somewhat correct about Scots-Irish migration but has some misses, too. This - and the other main migration waves from Britain thoroughly covered in David Hackett-Fischer's 'Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America'. Each of the four waves described had a distinct regional/cultural/religious origin and settled (mainly) in different regions in America. The S-I's were the last of these, following the Puritans (East Anglia to New England), the 'Cavaliers' (Royalists from Southern England and their domestics and indentured to Virginia, Maryland, coastal Carolinas), Quakers (N. Midlands to Pennsylvania , New Jersey). S-I's were originally from the border regions of England/Scotland and had, until the unification of those kingdoms in the early 1700's, not been effectively under control of either and largely in a state of endemic conflict for something like 500 years when the British crown finally came in to impose ORDER on people unused to and disinclined to it. The video linked to implies a stronger relationship than actually existed between the lowland borderers and highland Scots. They were, in fact, traditional enemies (this is a central theme of Robert Lous Stevenson's novel 'Kidnaped') - often fighting each other when they weren't too busy feuding and fighting among themselves. Brits did need underlings to impose their rule on the Irish, and recruited borderers for the task, but the borderers were not Church of England and relegated to an inferior status, there were restriction on their right to hold government positions, public office, vote, etc. and conditions in Ireland overall were worsening - this while opportunities to emigrate were opening up and a huge migration ensued - Ulster Protestants are the descendants of those who didn't leave. While the Quakers didn't actively turn them away, there were serious differences in terms of culture and values and the Quakers did what they could to encourage the S-I's to keep going on into the frontier - mainly, as the video follows, the Wagon Road, basically the Warrior Path of the Indians, south along the Appalachians. S-I's were generally happy to oblige and get well away from the reach of the Crown. The rest, as they say...

Submitted by exindy on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 11:40am

The Highland Clearances

@Blue Republic were a dark time in the history of Scotland, a time when people were forced to abandon an entire culture and history because some oligarchs were rewarded for their support of the british crown. Meh, what's a few generations of occupancy? Just pack them up in the middle of the night or burn the house with them in it.

Not much different from "god" deciding that some piece of dirt in Palestin will now be called Israel and if anyone complains? Airstrike. Finishing the crusade project. Oops, off topic.

I'm just starting a one-off after just finishing the Peter May Lewis Trilogy:

Lewis Trilogy by Peter May

Fin Macleod, a detective inspector in Edinburgh, returns to his birthplace, the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, in the Lewis trilogy:

https://www.goodreads.com/series/77173-lewis-trilogy

He includes quite a bit of history in the novels and does an excellent job personalizing the attitudes of the characters and their life a hundred years or so after the Clearances in the Outer Hebrides. BTW, not an easy read for the sensitive crowd, but then it's a novel about real life as it was. These novels are available as ebooks in your local library (if you're fortunate that our corporations allow it).

As soon as I finish the current book (Coffin Road) I will reread Entry Island. It portrays S-I people as they are "shipped" in the hold of a boat to Canada and suffer much the same fate as slaves in their forced relocations. Anyone who survives the sicknessed gets shoved onto an island until they prove their health.

Yeah, I know, reading it for the third time. Each time I see parts I missed.

Somewhere I saw the term for a ethnic group which has little collective identity in their new "home" but I don't recall what it is. The highland scots fit that profile.

Be well, all.

Have a few of those in the ancestral woodpile. Video is somewhat correct about Scots-Irish migration but has some misses, too. This - and the other main migration waves from Britain thoroughly covered in David Hackett-Fischer's 'Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America'. Each of the four waves described had a distinct regional/cultural/religious origin and settled (mainly) in different regions in America. The S-I's were the last of these, following the Puritans (East Anglia to New England), the 'Cavaliers' (Royalists from Southern England and their domestics and indentured to Virginia, Maryland, coastal Carolinas), Quakers (N. Midlands to Pennsylvania , New Jersey). S-I's were originally from the border regions of England/Scotland and had, until the unification of those kingdoms in the early 1700's, not been effectively under control of either and largely in a state of endemic conflict for something like 500 years when the British crown finally came in to impose ORDER on people unused to and disinclined to it. The video linked to implies a stronger relationship than actually existed between the lowland borderers and highland Scots. They were, in fact, traditional enemies (this is a central theme of Robert Lous Stevenson's novel 'Kidnaped') - often fighting each other when they weren't too busy feuding and fighting among themselves. Brits did need underlings to impose their rule on the Irish, and recruited borderers for the task, but the borderers were not Church of England and relegated to an inferior status, there were restriction on their right to hold government positions, public office, vote, etc. and conditions in Ireland overall were worsening - this while opportunities to emigrate were opening up and a huge migration ensued - Ulster Protestants are the descendants of those who didn't leave. While the Quakers didn't actively turn them away, there were serious differences in terms of culture and values and the Quakers did what they could to encourage the S-I's to keep going on into the frontier - mainly, as the video follows, the Wagon Road, basically the Warrior Path of the Indians, south along the Appalachians. S-I's were generally happy to oblige and get well away from the reach of the Crown. The rest, as they say...

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 8:34am

The Circle Album...

@Blue Republic

....influenced a generation. Thanks for the inclusion.

When Alabama opened up for settlement many migrated from the Carolina's. Our place was settled by people of Scot-Irish heritage...as were my ancestors.

Thanks for the history lesson.

Have a few of those in the ancestral woodpile. Video is somewhat correct about Scots-Irish migration but has some misses, too. This - and the other main migration waves from Britain thoroughly covered in David Hackett-Fischer's 'Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America'. Each of the four waves described had a distinct regional/cultural/religious origin and settled (mainly) in different regions in America. The S-I's were the last of these, following the Puritans (East Anglia to New England), the 'Cavaliers' (Royalists from Southern England and their domestics and indentured to Virginia, Maryland, coastal Carolinas), Quakers (N. Midlands to Pennsylvania , New Jersey). S-I's were originally from the border regions of England/Scotland and had, until the unification of those kingdoms in the early 1700's, not been effectively under control of either and largely in a state of endemic conflict for something like 500 years when the British crown finally came in to impose ORDER on people unused to and disinclined to it. The video linked to implies a stronger relationship than actually existed between the lowland borderers and highland Scots. They were, in fact, traditional enemies (this is a central theme of Robert Lous Stevenson's novel 'Kidnaped') - often fighting each other when they weren't too busy feuding and fighting among themselves. Brits did need underlings to impose their rule on the Irish, and recruited borderers for the task, but the borderers were not Church of England and relegated to an inferior status, there were restriction on their right to hold government positions, public office, vote, etc. and conditions in Ireland overall were worsening - this while opportunities to emigrate were opening up and a huge migration ensued - Ulster Protestants are the descendants of those who didn't leave. While the Quakers didn't actively turn them away, there were serious differences in terms of culture and values and the Quakers did what they could to encourage the S-I's to keep going on into the frontier - mainly, as the video follows, the Wagon Road, basically the Warrior Path of the Indians, south along the Appalachians. S-I's were generally happy to oblige and get well away from the reach of the Crown. The rest, as they say...

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by ggersh on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 9:44am

Enjoy the music and your buddies while it all lasts

One might think that the "gaffe machine" might get rebooted
but no not this one. She's like a Timex that just keeps on
ticking

Kamala does it again, reducing the population is part of their agenda alright!!

Kamala just said that “reducing population” is a goal of the climate change movement

They aren’t hiding it anymore

YOU are the carbon they want to eliminate

True evil pic.twitter.com/SZOaM9cAz2

— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) July 14, 2023

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 8:37am

Kamala is Biden's insurance policy...

@ggersh

I've never heard anyone say they liked her. Tulsi slayed her in the debate in 2020.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Blue Republic on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 9:44am

ICYMI - 'Songcatcher'

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 8:43am

Songcatcher is loosely the story...

@Blue Republic

....of the John Campbell folk school. The Brit was Cecil Sharp.

Although Songcatcher is a fictional film, it is loosely based on the work of Olive Dame Campbell, founder of the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina, and that of the English folk song collector Cecil Sharp, portrayed at the end of the film as professor Cyrus Whittle.

Thanks for the inclusion. I've played many dances there over the years.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by exindy on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 11:47am

Since this is a music theme....

I'm just starting my "study" of music from the late 70's into the 80's.

Really good stuff there. I guess I was too busy getting on with life to pay attention to the music my kids were following.

BTW, Gamazda does a good cover/adaptation of many of them:

Journey - Don't Stop Believin' | Piano cover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_eS9POWHAI

Submitted by QMS on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 2:41pm

Fantastico

@exindy

don't stop believing

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 8:47am

I began playing piano...

@exindy

when I was a little kid, but never kept up with it. My Grandmother taught piano and violin. When she died I just didn't pursue keyboard and have lost almost all those skills.

The woman in the clip is quite good. I never came close to playing like that.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 11:55am

This meme keeps getting better

More on the military industrial complex.

JUST IN: Retired Colonel Douglas Macgregor takes a blow torch too Lindsay Graham — He does what his billionaire donors tell him to — Likens Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates to western oligarchs.. pic.twitter.com/SsIGs5CEfh

— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) July 16, 2023

This ties in with what exindy and I posted in yesterdays OT. Great articles if you missed them.

—

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 8:51am

Lindsay never met a war he didn't like...

@snoopydawg

...he's a warmongering worm in my book. Alex begs SC to vote him out, but I doubt that will happen.

Thanks for the meme and clip.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 12:36pm

Yup he nailed it

Audience: "There's coke in the White House!"

Tucker Carlson proceeds to give one of the funniest two-minute monologues ever. pic.twitter.com/5s75vI298Q

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) July 16, 2023

—

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 8:57am

Hey the investigation...

@snoopydawg

is over.

The U.S. Secret Service announced today that it was closing its investigation into one of the most captivating moments of Joe Biden’s presidency: The mystery of the White House cocaine.

nothing to see, just move along.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by humphrey on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 12:51pm

If the US and its puppet NATO keep crossing the "red lines"

maybe it is time to start running this once again.

This “Duck and Cover” song is just amazing!

-> Kids always remember what to do, if the atomic bomb hits!

PS: Long version below. https://t.co/ixkROnlL8M pic.twitter.com/b9eVv6GoxK

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) July 16, 2023

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 9:00am

If you see a light brighter than the sun...

@humphrey

When you see a flash of light brighter than the sun---
Don't run; there isn't time.
Fall flat on your face.
Get Down Fast!
The recommendation in most of the literature at that time was to stay down for "at least a minute."

Remember the old poster - bend over, put your head between your knees,...and kiss your ass goodbye!

Thanks for the memories!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 1:50pm

good morning LO at y'all. Back sometime in the late fifties or

early sixties, I got my brother a copy of Alan Lomax's book "The Folk Songs of North America, which I proceeded to read cover to cover more than once. Eventually I scored a super cheapo "guitar" from one of those Mr. Fixit type of dudes, taught myself to sort of read music, and how the guitar tuning worked, and then figured out how to more or less sort of play one or two songs from each chapter to get a feel for what that category more or less sounded like. Most of it is long gone, but I eventually got my own copy of the book, which is still around here somewhere. Amazing all the stuff that's in that book and funny how the folk revival types, at the very beginning seemed to have a vague preference for certain categories, like child ballads, for example.

be well and have a good one

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 9:04am

not only Lomax book, but...

@enhydra lutris

also Pete's The Incomplete Folk Singer....and the Sing Out magazines. Wow, I didn't realize they are still publishing them.

Thanks for coming by and chiming in!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by on the cusp on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 3:03pm

Good afternoon, Lo, et. al.

I love folk music. Baez, Dylan, Peter, Paul, and Mary, and others of that time.
I recall Mary attempted a solo tour. I got a ticket, drove to downtown Houston to Jones Hall. Well, so few tickets were sold, she walked onto the stage, announced everyone would get a refund, did a short set, and that was it. Very sad and embarrassing.
I hope you refreshed your song memory this week, and enjoyed the companionship of all the fellow enthusiasts. Sounds like a real blast!
Thanks for the OT.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 9:06am

We had a great time...

@on the cusp

Lots of friendship, music, food, and swimming. Came home tired out, but a good night's sleep and good as new today.

Hope y'all are doing well and had a good weekend!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by humphrey on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 3:22pm

This is what they do in order to keep the masses misinformed.

New on MoA:
AP Obfuscates The Real Black Sea Grain Deal Numbershttps://t.co/oqCIW6fLmk pic.twitter.com/SC6320sJzc

— Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) July 15, 2023

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 9:08am

The deal is over....

@humphrey

hitting the bridge sealed it's fate.

Thanks for adding that to the mix!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 3:59pm

I’ve long thought this about many of the things happening

It’s from the Epoch Times so of course there are things written here that I don’t agree with because of their slant, but it’s not just airlines that have gotten worse since the PTB closed down the global economy. Food shortages are still happening as are electrical grid problems that actually started before Covid. California started having rolling blackouts because they wouldn’t make PG&E mind because it got in the way of profits. Lots of other issues just started out of nowhere. I think it’s deliberate. 100's of food plants got destroyed out of the blue and the media was very silent on it.

What If This Travel Chaos Is Deliberate?

Like so many others, I’ve begun to assume the worst. This is because the worst assumptions and explanations of the strange happenings all around us keep being proven to be true. The list of “conspiracy theories” that turn out to be correct based on all facts and evidence is growing by the day and the hour.

Let’s consider this subject that’s deeply vexing to every American traveler: the complete unreliability of domestic airlines. Sure, there’s a chance that you’ll book a two-hop trip somewhere and it’ll come off without a hitch. But that chance is increasingly slim.

It’s a mark of our systematically declining living standards. The speed and reliability of travel is a mark of modernity and progress. But these days, it’s mostly something to dread. At first, it was the absurdities of the Transportation Security Administration, an agency that should never have been created in the first place. Then it was the masks—how preposterous was that?
….
But let’s just pretend that a cabal of evil geniuses is secretly plotting to get rid of domestic travel via plane. They wouldn’t have to abolish it outright. They would only need to create conditions to cause enough suffering so that people gradually decline to use the service. Instead of five trips in a year, people reduce their travel to only essentials, taking cars, trains, and buses when possible.

Just think about your own experience. Remember when flying was a pleasure and you never worried about rebooking roulette or being stranded at some strange airport wondering if you can manage to sleep in a chair for the night? That was only a few years ago. These days, no one looks forward to what we’ll encounter at the airport. It’s simply awful.

Back to the evil geniuses. They want a world in which the planes are grounded and you’re stuck where you are. How to get there? Just go slowly. Gradually degrade the experience to the point that people decline to use it anymore. The airlines lose money and go out of business. Maybe at some point, there are only a few carriers remaining, and they’re entirely dependent on government for marching orders.

—

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 9:11am

As I suggested a couple of weeks ago...

@snoopydawg

We're incompetent across the board from travel to infrastructure to ...

Since 911 air travel has been a hassle to my mind.

Hope you and Sam are doing well and coping with the heat.

. It’s from the Epoch Times so of course there are things written here that I don’t agree with because of their slant, but it’s not just airlines that have gotten worse since the PTB closed down the global economy. Food shortages are still happening as are electrical grid problems that actually started before Covid. California started having rolling blackouts because they wouldn’t make PG&E mind because it got in the way of profits. Lots of other issues just started out of nowhere. I think it’s deliberate. 100's of food plants got destroyed out of the blue and the media was very silent on it. What If This Travel Chaos Is Deliberate? Like so many others, I’ve begun to assume the worst. This is because the worst assumptions and explanations of the strange happenings all around us keep being proven to be true. The list of “conspiracy theories” that turn out to be correct based on all facts and evidence is growing by the day and the hour. Let’s consider this subject that’s deeply vexing to every American traveler: the complete unreliability of domestic airlines. Sure, there’s a chance that you’ll book a two-hop trip somewhere and it’ll come off without a hitch. But that chance is increasingly slim. It’s a mark of our systematically declining living standards. The speed and reliability of travel is a mark of modernity and progress. But these days, it’s mostly something to dread. At first, it was the absurdities of the Transportation Security Administration, an agency that should never have been created in the first place. Then it was the masks—how preposterous was that? …. But let’s just pretend that a cabal of evil geniuses is secretly plotting to get rid of domestic travel via plane. They wouldn’t have to abolish it outright. They would only need to create conditions to cause enough suffering so that people gradually decline to use the service. Instead of five trips in a year, people reduce their travel to only essentials, taking cars, trains, and buses when possible. Just think about your own experience. Remember when flying was a pleasure and you never worried about rebooking roulette or being stranded at some strange airport wondering if you can manage to sleep in a chair for the night? That was only a few years ago. These days, no one looks forward to what we’ll encounter at the airport. It’s simply awful. Back to the evil geniuses. They want a world in which the planes are grounded and you’re stuck where you are. How to get there? Just go slowly. Gradually degrade the experience to the point that people decline to use it anymore. The airlines lose money and go out of business. Maybe at some point, there are only a few carriers remaining, and they’re entirely dependent on government for marching orders.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by on the cusp on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 5:09pm

All but one of my travel pals

@snoopydawg @snoopydawg have had pretty bad luck with domestic flights. All my trips since 2020 have been driving trips.
They are also doing some weird routes where instead of changing planes to fly to a nearby airport, they put you on a damn bus. They then fly your luggage to the second airport. THEN, you find your luggage was left behind.
I do believe the degradation of domestic air travel has been mysteriously abrupt and swift.
As though it is part of a plan. Who's plan?
edit: typing too fast, got the first sentence bass ackwards. One guy always has great luck, but many of my friends are getting very discouraged about flying.

. It’s from the Epoch Times so of course there are things written here that I don’t agree with because of their slant, but it’s not just airlines that have gotten worse since the PTB closed down the global economy. Food shortages are still happening as are electrical grid problems that actually started before Covid. California started having rolling blackouts because they wouldn’t make PG&E mind because it got in the way of profits. Lots of other issues just started out of nowhere. I think it’s deliberate. 100's of food plants got destroyed out of the blue and the media was very silent on it. What If This Travel Chaos Is Deliberate? Like so many others, I’ve begun to assume the worst. This is because the worst assumptions and explanations of the strange happenings all around us keep being proven to be true. The list of “conspiracy theories” that turn out to be correct based on all facts and evidence is growing by the day and the hour. Let’s consider this subject that’s deeply vexing to every American traveler: the complete unreliability of domestic airlines. Sure, there’s a chance that you’ll book a two-hop trip somewhere and it’ll come off without a hitch. But that chance is increasingly slim. It’s a mark of our systematically declining living standards. The speed and reliability of travel is a mark of modernity and progress. But these days, it’s mostly something to dread. At first, it was the absurdities of the Transportation Security Administration, an agency that should never have been created in the first place. Then it was the masks—how preposterous was that? …. But let’s just pretend that a cabal of evil geniuses is secretly plotting to get rid of domestic travel via plane. They wouldn’t have to abolish it outright. They would only need to create conditions to cause enough suffering so that people gradually decline to use the service. Instead of five trips in a year, people reduce their travel to only essentials, taking cars, trains, and buses when possible. Just think about your own experience. Remember when flying was a pleasure and you never worried about rebooking roulette or being stranded at some strange airport wondering if you can manage to sleep in a chair for the night? That was only a few years ago. These days, no one looks forward to what we’ll encounter at the airport. It’s simply awful. Back to the evil geniuses. They want a world in which the planes are grounded and you’re stuck where you are. How to get there? Just go slowly. Gradually degrade the experience to the point that people decline to use it anymore. The airlines lose money and go out of business. Maybe at some point, there are only a few carriers remaining, and they’re entirely dependent on government for marching orders.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by QMS on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 5:27pm

had heard

@on the cusp

domestic flights are done in France, but it is a small country
and they also have decent rail service

not so much in the united states of old white guys
bus service is crap, rail transport is also
the gov bailed out the airlines and auto industries
so we got shitty roads and un-regulated flights

thanks buttigeg beetlejuice

Submitted by on the cusp on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 6:06pm

There are few bus lines.

@QMS Amtrak is dangerous.
We were trying to configure a 19 hour drive to see a friend. Any way you cut it, that is 6 days of a 10 day vacation spent driving.
The parking at Houston International Airport is expensive, even the park and ride parking lots. Add on highly inflated car rental expense at destination, and baggage fees. The actual transit to destination would take 10 hours. So, yes, it is an increase to 8 nice vacation days, not 4, but that is only if there are no airport or car rental glitches going or coming.
I got word my GOES membership allowing Trusted Traveler check-in is expiring. Both me and Dear One would have to go through the interview process at the airport, pay the fees, await the arrival of our cards, or add on more time for checking in through TSA with the huge crowd.
We are really thinking this through.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by dystopian on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 7:54pm

Hey weekly watchers!

Hi all, Hey LO! Hope it's all good out there! We're melting.

After being quite turned on by some songs on the radio in the earliest 60's, I started on folk music. Turned out to be a gateway to rock. Which was a gateway to the blues. Probably about '65 a Baritone Ukelele arrived in the house, I was 10. For those unawares, they are bigger than a standard Ukelele, tuning and chords same as bottom four strings on guitar. From CSU Long Beach came four pages of folk songs with lyrics and chords written over where the changes. The standard stuff of the day. Where have all the Flowers Gone, This Land, 500 miles, Green Green, Stewball, and so on. I loved to tear Banua up on that Baritone Uke. My dad had albums from the Brothers Four and The Kingston Trio. And so of course I loved all the folk rock music of the 60's.

As for what type of musician I am, most would say poor. Except those that don't know music. I can fool them. But like bowling, you don't have to be great to have fun.

A friend sent this on Chestnut Trees...
https://www.communityadvocate.com/2023/07/11/nature-notes-american-chest...

Birdsong has quieted way way down here, breeding season is winding up. Not a great season here due to drought, but a fair number of juvenile birds out there. Many adult songbirds molt after breeding. Seeing some in heavy molt here now. Often they move away from territory to lose the begging babies. They can't afford to molt whilst feeding young, everything goes to the babies. After breeding many wander around a couple or few weeks replacing all their flight feathers (wings and tail), often contour feathers of body, and building body fat up for migration. Some undergo molt migration, whence they depart the breeding grounds, but no one has yet figured out where they go. Often upslope in areas where elevation, like mountains, and maybe flowers and bugs. They molt, fatten up, and head south with a new set of feathers to fly with. And often a more camo themed set of feathers for winter.

be well all, stay cool if ya can!

—

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

Submitted by on the cusp on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 9:31pm

Dysto,

@dystopian I have 4 bluebird fledglings in the birdbath this afternoon.
Awesome! Maybe they will come back!

Hi all, Hey LO! Hope it's all good out there! We're melting. After being quite turned on by some songs on the radio in the earliest 60's, I started on folk music. Turned out to be a gateway to rock. Which was a gateway to the blues. Probably about '65 a Baritone Ukelele arrived in the house, I was 10. For those unawares, they are bigger than a standard Ukelele, tuning and chords same as bottom four strings on guitar. From CSU Long Beach came four pages of folk songs with lyrics and chords written over where the changes. The standard stuff of the day. Where have all the Flowers Gone, This Land, 500 miles, Green Green, Stewball, and so on. I loved to tear Banua up on that Baritone Uke. My dad had albums from the Brothers Four and The Kingston Trio. And so of course I loved all the folk rock music of the 60's. As for what type of musician I am, most would say poor. Except those that don't know music. I can fool them. But like bowling, you don't have to be great to have fun. A friend sent this on Chestnut Trees... https://www.communityadvocate.com/2023/07/11/nature-notes-american-chest... Birdsong has quieted way way down here, breeding season is winding up. Not a great season here due to drought, but a fair number of juvenile birds out there. Many adult songbirds molt after breeding. Seeing some in heavy molt here now. Often they move away from territory to lose the begging babies. They can't afford to molt whilst feeding young, everything goes to the babies. After breeding many wander around a couple or few weeks replacing all their flight feathers (wings and tail), often contour feathers of body, and building body fat up for migration. Some undergo molt migration, whence they depart the breeding grounds, but no one has yet figured out where they go. Often upslope in areas where elevation, like mountains, and maybe flowers and bugs. They molt, fatten up, and head south with a new set of feathers to fly with. And often a more camo themed set of feathers for winter. be well all, stay cool if ya can!

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 9:20am

Thanks for the chestnut info...

@dystopian

I plan on air layering mine soon. Had to clean the jap beetles off of them today.

We still have morning and evening wood thrush singing. Didn't at the park where we were staying.

One of my best buddies plays uke. He has a national steel uke which I call "the ukeinator".

His is blue rather than chrome like this one.

Take care and stay cool.

Hi all, Hey LO! Hope it's all good out there! We're melting. After being quite turned on by some songs on the radio in the earliest 60's, I started on folk music. Turned out to be a gateway to rock. Which was a gateway to the blues. Probably about '65 a Baritone Ukelele arrived in the house, I was 10. For those unawares, they are bigger than a standard Ukelele, tuning and chords same as bottom four strings on guitar. From CSU Long Beach came four pages of folk songs with lyrics and chords written over where the changes. The standard stuff of the day. Where have all the Flowers Gone, This Land, 500 miles, Green Green, Stewball, and so on. I loved to tear Banua up on that Baritone Uke. My dad had albums from the Brothers Four and The Kingston Trio. And so of course I loved all the folk rock music of the 60's. As for what type of musician I am, most would say poor. Except those that don't know music. I can fool them. But like bowling, you don't have to be great to have fun. A friend sent this on Chestnut Trees... https://www.communityadvocate.com/2023/07/11/nature-notes-american-chest... Birdsong has quieted way way down here, breeding season is winding up. Not a great season here due to drought, but a fair number of juvenile birds out there. Many adult songbirds molt after breeding. Seeing some in heavy molt here now. Often they move away from territory to lose the begging babies. They can't afford to molt whilst feeding young, everything goes to the babies. After breeding many wander around a couple or few weeks replacing all their flight feathers (wings and tail), often contour feathers of body, and building body fat up for migration. Some undergo molt migration, whence they depart the breeding grounds, but no one has yet figured out where they go. Often upslope in areas where elevation, like mountains, and maybe flowers and bugs. They molt, fatten up, and head south with a new set of feathers to fly with. And often a more camo themed set of feathers for winter. be well all, stay cool if ya can!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by dystopian on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 9:49pm

Go Wood Thrushes!

@Lookout Hey LO! I would be interested to know when they quit singing. Lots of songbirds sing right up to when they depart breeding territories. And then that eerie silence. Our Cuckoos (Yellow-billed) just left in the last couple days. I really do think they increase the dove-like cooo cooo cooo type calling (as opposed to the guttaral woody knocking ka ka ka ka k-tow k-tow k-tow usual call) when the rain is immenent as the barometric pressure drops. Right as rain approaches that call increases. Hence I think the 'rain-crow' name. If you hit a couple 2 x 4's together, or even a stud with a hammer a few times slowly, you can often to get a cuckoo to call back.

What an instrument that 'Ukinator' is! A BEAST of a Ukelele. I saw one in a store once, was afraid to ask about it. Too cool. The Baritone Uke was the perfect beginner guitar for a child with hands still to small to work a guitar. At least this one with shorter fingers. And folk music was perfect too.

be well brother!

—

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 8:14pm

Thanks for all the nice comments and news!

A weary lookout is going down for the count after a great few days of music and friendship. Will respond in more detail tomorrow. Till then...

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by humphrey on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 12:56am

The Crimean Bridge has been damaged again!

https://www.rt.com/russia/579815-crimean-bridge-road-section-destroyed/

Traffic on the Crimean Bridge was stopped on Monday morning, with Crimean Governor Sergey Aksyonov citing an unspecified “emergency.” Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that a married couple from his region was killed in the incident, while their daughter was injured. According to RIA Novosti, she was admitted to a hospital and is now in intensive care.

While the bridge has been targeted by Ukraine in the past, Kiev officials have not confirmed their involvement in the incident – but have cheered it. Andrey Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence, said the Crimean Bridge is a “redundant construction,” refusing to elaborate further.

Submitted by Lookout on Mon, 07/17/2023 - 9:23am

They also bombed Belgorod

@humphrey

2.5 min

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”